After the first night in Morocco (which was already quite cold, almost down to freezing) I departed eastward, following the Mediterranean cost. A nice winding road brought me to the fishing village of El Jebha, where I had my first Moroccan tajine (with fish of course) and tea. More on the tajine in general later, but I can tell you, that the Moroccan mint tea is outstanding, albeit with a lot of sugar. After lunch I turned southwards into the Rif Mountains, the centre of the Moroccan hashish production.
![Somewhere in the Rif Mountains, I followed secondary roads through rural landscape towards the town of Taza.](https://www.jojo-motophoto.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/DSC_6266.jpg)
![I spent a night close to a ruin in sight of several villages, I would have preferred a more remote location but the region was dotted with small villages and nightfall left me no other choice. But the ruin, illuminated by the rising moon, offered a perfect foreground for my first night time photo.](https://www.jojo-motophoto.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/DSC_6299.jpg)
![The mosque at the crossroad. If you have a keen eye, you might notice, that the Tenere isn't facing in the right direction.](https://www.jojo-motophoto.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/DSC_6328.jpg)
![Southeast of Taza, there's the Tazzeka National Park. I met a hiker, who recommended me to follow this dirt road.](https://www.jojo-motophoto.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/DSC_6333.jpg)
The next leg took me from the Tazzeka National Park to the town of Midelt in the foothills of the mighty Atlas.
For the rest of the day I was in full on riding mode, so no more pictures until the arrival in Midelt. But it was a bliss flying along sandy desert roads and rolling through tiny villages with houses made of clay. But the flow was broken by a trench and a heap of earth. Construction works for a new road had cut off my dirt road and no one had bothered to take care of a detour. So, I left the road to find a way around the trench (nearly getting stuck in the sand while doing so) and continue towards Midelt. On the other side of the trench, I met some workers, who told me that I wasn’t allowed to be here, but gave me directions nonetheless. I still managed to get lost in the extensive construction site, until I was found by two engineers in a pickup truck who guided me to the road towards Midelt (and also told me I wasn’t allowed here).